Arizona Edition - Arizona Democrat Terry Goddard has a long history in Arizona politics. He served as the Mayor of Phoenix in the 1980s, was a federal housing official in the 1990s and was the Arizona Attorney General from 2003 until 2011. Goddard has also run and lost three campaigns to be Governor. Goddard’s father, Sam Goddard, was Arizona Governor in the 1960s.

This year Terry Goddard has his sights set on the office of Secretary of State, Arizona’s top elections official. Goddard tells KAWC’s Lou Gum that controversies over voting rights and registration in the last few years drew him to run for the state’s second highest public office…(originally aired 04/09/14)

After 40 years, Terry Goddard had been planning to retire from public service.

That was last year. Now the Democrat is a candidate for Arizona Secretary of State.

Two issues in particular have pulled him back into the political scene: "voter suppression" and "dark money."

In a Friday visit to the Yuma Sun, the former state attorney general and Phoenix mayor believes an “assault on voter rights” is making people lose confidence in the voting system.

He believes the secretary of state should be the "bandleader of voting" and make the process as easy as possible. Instead, Goddard said, several obstacles “make it harder to vote, especially if it’s not something you've done all your life.”

He pointed out the dual-ballot system, which he called an “extra impediment” to voting, especially for the men and women serving overseas in the military.

PHOENIX (AP) -- Former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard officially became a candidate Thursday for the Democratic nomination for secretary of state.

Goddard, who had said previously he'd run for the office, filed his candidacy papers with the Secretary of State's Office. The former state attorney general, who served from 2003 through 2010, ran three times for governor unsuccessfully - most recently in 2010.

"I was totally prepared to exercise my right to go into the private sector," Goddard said of the plans he had a year ago. "But what's happened in the meantime is a series of activities that got me angry and got me concerned about voters' rights in Arizona."

PHOENIX -- Former Phoenix Mayor Terry Goddard said he was filing papers Thursday to officially run for Arizona Secretary of State.

Goddard, 67, who also spent two terms as State Attorney General, said in a statement, "... I am running so I can help restore Arizona to be the nationally respected, innovative and moderate state it has been for most of its 102 years." He pointed to the recent controversial anti-gay SB 1062 and a house bill related to voter rights.

The Democratic candidate ran for governor in 2010, losing out to Jan Brewer. He was mayor of Phoenix from 1984-1990.

The campaign will formally kick off Friday evening in downtown Phoenix.